art

The Mountainfilm Commitment Grant was created to help ensure that important stories are not only told, but also heard. Artist Drew Ludwig was a 2011 recipient, which enabled him to travel to Japan to photograph survivors of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. The tsunami reached heights of 130 feet, traveled several miles inland, and Ludwig was determined to capture the scale of the devastation juxtaposed with the people to whom it had happened.

Accompanied by a translator and guide, Ludwig walked roughly 200 miles across a tsunami-scoured region, camping in abandoned buildings, witnessing remnant after remnant of the catastrophe and seeking out people’s stories. The result is images in which people physically demonstrate the size of the wave they saw. One man, for example, holds a long bamboo pole aloft with an umbrella tied to its tip. A young girl stands on top of an enormous boulder, and another photo is of a man who has just thrown a stone into the air. The stone flies way above him.

By photographing people in indigenous and Tribal cultures, Phil Borges aims to heighten awareness of the issues faced by those in the developing world. He has a particularly close and long-standing relationship with Tibet, and his latest book, Tibet: Culture on the Edge, reflects his respect for the country and its people.

We’re excited that Borges will exhibit his latest work and speak about Tibet at Mountainfilm in Telluride 2012. This montage offers a glimpse into his collections and a deep look into the eyes of our fellow global citizens.

If we were to create a new nation, how might we begin? So asks Alex Hartley, a British artist who has started a public art project that is one of 12 pieces across the United Kingdom that will be part of the Cultural Olympiad in the Olympic summer of 2012. “Nowhereisland” is intended to tap into our values and beliefs as citizens, integrating the general public's thoughts; so far, there are over 5,000 "citizens" of the island who have started writing the island's constitution collectively. This isn't just a thought piece: Hartley found an actual island in Norway and received permission to tow it to the coast of England.

Nowhereisland - Alex Hartley from SituationsDirector on Vimeo.

Mountainfilm 2008 artist Jeff Scher, who does work for the NY Times and whose film White Out played at the festival in that year, has a new film: "September Mourning, a 9/11 Requiem".

As attendees of Mountainfilm 2011 can attest, Shakespeare High is a heartwarming story about the incredible power of theatre. Following California high school students as they prepare for a Shakespeare festival, the film tells the story of the competition itself, but the characters involved and the obstacles they encounter along the way.

Shakespeare High Producer Ronnie Planalp gives us some insight:

How did you decide to tell this story?

Ronnie Planalp: One of my producing partners, Brad Koepenick, was good friends with Kevin Spacey, our executive producer, who actually participated in the program when he was in high school at Chatsworth High. Brad had been speaking with Kevin as well as our director Alex Rotaru for years about the possibility of telling the story of the Drama Teachers Association's work with the students. Our other producer, Lori Miller, had worked with Alex and myself on our last film together and the project came together with all of us playing a role.  

What part about making this film impacted you the most?

In his upcoming Midway Film, photographer Chris Jordan brings his schocking images from Midway to life, prompting us all to think about our personal impact on the environment.

MIDWAY : trailer : a film by Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.

Learn more about the Midway Project.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was taking into custody by Chinese officials on April 3, was released on bail late Wednesday.

From the Los Angeles Times:

"I'm out. I'm fine," Ai Weiwei wrote in text messages to friends and supporters about midnight after returning to the art studio where he makes his home in northeastern Beijing.

For photographer Drew Ludwig, the idea of artifact is paramount, documenting physical objects that represent our emotions; by documenting one simple object, as an artist he is able to speak to a larger issue.

In his recent work, that object has been gloves, an idea that was spawned after the Mountainfilm Zero Emissions Tour, where Ludwig found many gloves on the side of the road as he biked from tour stop to tour stop. The concept stuck, and at this year's festival Ludwig will be exhibiting his Gloves I Carried show at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, a collection of photos shot last summer during a solo walk of 120 miles from the Ninth Ward of New Orleans to the Gulf Of Mexico in Louisiana.

We caught up with Ludwig to learn more about his trip and why he sees his photography as a medium for positive change.

What inspired you to plan a journey to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast?

Next week we'll be welcoming artist Antrim Caskey, who will be exhibiting her work at this year's festival. She was recently announced as a winner of the 43rd Annual Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for her work 'Dragline,' a photographic expose of mountaintop removal coal mining.

We caught up with her to learn more about her work on mountaintop removal and why she believes strongly in art as a medium for activism.

Mountainfilm: How long have you been working on photographing mountaintop removal?